The differences between the chairman and the president of Japanese insurance holding company NKSJ had become so wide that the board, and pro-integration members of the company, felt that there was no option but to replace them both, reports Nikkei. Although the co-leader policy was meant to bring about gradual integration between Nipponkoa and Sompo Japan when the two insurers merged under a single holding company in March 2009, Chairman Makoto Hyodo from Nipponkoa and President Masatoshi Sato from Sompo Japan – both nominally the CEO, could not agree on progress, because Mr Hyodo was determined to protect the Nipponkoa brand. The flooding in Thailand appears to have acted as the catalyst that convinced Sompo Japan President Kengo Sakurada and Nipponkoa President Masaya Futamiya that something needed to be done, given NKSJ's expected ¥100bn ($1.3bn) loss in financial year 2011. Mr Sato had agreed to step down, but Mr Hyodo did not, said Nikkei. At a news conference on Friday that announced that the changes would be in place from April, messrs Sato, Sakurado and Futamiya were in attendance, but Mr Hyodo was not. The three senior executives present repeated emphasized the need for speed in integration.